The purse. That lovely – and useful – accessory every woman uses to cart around her life. When you’re a mom, buying a purse means you have to put in a bit more thought than, “This is cute!”

So how does a mom go about buying a purse?

Step 1. Open your current purse and empty it onto a table. Sort through what you have and what you’ll need space for. If your current purse is a diaper bag and you don’t have a child in diapers, you may be in more trouble than you thought.

Step 2. Decide if you really need the five Lego minifigures, the board book, the iPad (well, yes), the clippies, the sun hat, the reusable shopping bags, the wipes, the goldfish crackers, and the wallet. Wait. The wallet is probably not optional.

Step 3. Take your toddler daughter purse shopping with you. She most likely has a better sense of style than you do. Or is that just me? If nothing else, watching her strut around the store with her to-die for little girl purse will make you realize you waited too long to go purse shopping.

Step 4. Decide if you want cute and floral, classy and sleek, or big enough to use as an overnight case. Realize the cute and floral may not be big enough, the classy and sleek may be destroyed in a week, and the biggest purse the store carries may not be a purse, but, rather, a suitcase.

Step 5. Buy your “perfect purse” and decide to never let it get junked up and overflowing like your last purse. Sadly, that will only last about a week. Still, the exterior will be cute and stylish.

Mandy Dawson is the creator of In Mandyland, an almost daily blog recording her adventures in juggling a full-time job, two active children, four arguing hens, a fluffy bunny, and one ex-husband. A self-diagnosed gardening and crafting addict, she often finds herself gluing together clay pots and trying to discover the cure for brown thumb. When she’s not writing, she can be found burning dinners while she stares off into space with a story idea. She was a regular contributor for Makes Fun of Stuff, Aiming Low, and Six Kitchens, and has been featured on BlogHer and Mamapedia. She is an Assistant Editor for Write on Edge and has had her fiction featured in three anthologies currently available on Amazon.